Let You Go
by ProfessionallyCrazedTrigunFan
Summary: Songfic to Within Temptation's Bittersweet. Team 7 centric, but contains SasuSaku. Sakura's POV. Oneshot.


-1**Disclaimer: **All things Naruto and affiliated with Naruto belong to Kishimoto-san. I also don't own the lyrics to "Bittersweet", that goes to the lovely band Within Temptation.

**Summary: **Songfic to Within Temptation's "Bittersweet". Team Seven centric. SasuSaku, some fluff. Sakura's POV.

**Let You Go**

_If I tell you, will you listen?_

_Will you stay?_

_Will you be here forever, never go away?_

_Never thought things would change,_

_Hold me tight_

_Please don't say again_

_That you have to go_

"Thank you." Then I blacked out. And he was gone. I cried for months. I was so young and so fragile. The sun had fallen out of the sky and the moon wept with me. I asked myself over and over: "How could you just leave?" I thought if I told him everything, poured out my heart and soul to him, that he would stay. I was wrong. And when I got older and wiser, I realized that those things I'd said were just empty, hollow words. I didn't know what love was then.

I'd always thought Team Seven was one of those things in life that no force of nature or man alive could destroy. But we'd had too many problems within ourselves to last forever. You had your all-consuming desire for power and revenge, Naruto had his quest to be stronger and prove to the world that he was worth more than all of them put together, and I…I wanted you. I didn't want to be left behind anymore. But you left me behind again, in a way I'd never wanted to dream possible.

_A bitter thought,_

_I had it all_

_But I just let it go_

_Hold your silence _

_It's so violent since you're gone_

It took me a couple years to realize that we had everything back then. We had each other. Even if we did have our own internal struggles, we had a friendship and comradeship that, though unusual, helped to shape us into the people we would become.

It took many months for me to overcome my guilt. It was the hardest thing I think I've ever been through. I blamed myself for letting you leave. I should have been stronger. Should have stopped you. But I couldn't. I was too weak, and I nursed that guilt like a mother nurses a newborn child. But Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, and even Sai, beat the sense into me. I realize now that some things happen whether we would will them to or not. And your leaving was one of those things. So I just let it go.

The hardest part is not knowing. Not knowing where you are, what you're doing. If you have anyone to comfort you when the nightmares come. I know you have them, and it always broke my heart to watch you toss and turn while you slept. I wish I could see you, there are so many things I want to say. We're older and so much different now, and I want to know what's behind that steel wall in your eyes.

_All my thoughts are with you forever_

_Until the day we'll be back together _

_I will be waiting for you_

This isn't over. You know that. Did you think you could just leave and we'd forget everything we've been through together? Even though you were always the prodigy and top of our Academy class, you can be so stupid sometimes, Sasuke-kun. But that's ok, because I know one day Naruto will keep his promise and drag you back here. To where you belong. The waiting is long and hard, but I have faith in Naruto and everyone else. And I know you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I still have faith in you too.

_If I had told you, _

_You would have listened_

_You would have stayed_

_You would be here forever_

_Never went away_

Maybe there was something we could have said to keep you here. Maybe if I hadn't stupidly declared my love for you like a child being denied it's favorite chocolate, if I had said something more mature and grown up, you might still be here. Maybe if it had been Naruto or Kakashi-sensei that had caught up with you instead of me, maybe they would have known the right thing to say. I wonder sometimes what it would have been like if you had never left. Would we have become friends? More than comrades? Would you have ever let us in? There are so many "ifs" and "maybes".

_It would never have been the same_

_All our time would have been in vain_

_'Cause you had to go_

But I think you had to go. You were unhappy here, knowing that you were stuck here with us while you could be hunting and destroying the source of your unhappiness. In a way, you were like Neji, a caged bird here in Konoha. You couldn't be strong enough to avenge the loss of everything you knew. You would have hated us for keeping you here. And that, I think, would have been worse than you leaving us.

_The sweetest thought_

_Had it all_

_'Cause I did let you go_

_All our moments keep me warm_

_When you're gone_

You'd like us to think that you don't think about us and what we had, but I know that even if it's only for half a second, we cross your mind from time to time. All of my memories of Team Seven keep me going, remind me why I have to be strong. That's why we're fighting to bring you home, Sasuke-kun. We won't let you forget even a moment of what we've been through together. I'm not a silly little fan girl anymore. I grew up, and so did my feelings. You know you're more than a teammate, more than a friend to me. You're not the only one who's lost something precious to you.

You took away my naivety and taught me what it meant to be strong. You thought you could make me forget about you, but you were wrong. I thought I loved you before, but I was only young and infatuated. And when Naruto dragged you back through the gates of Konoha, alive and whole, that was the first time I really knew what love was. I wanted to cry, I wanted to punch you, then hold you and never let you go. But I didn't do any of these things. I put all of my love into that one smile and said,

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."

_All my thoughts are with you forever_

_Until the day we'll be back together _

_I will be waiting for you_

I knew there would be more waiting, but I was patient. It took you time to trust us, to let us back into your heart. But now we had all the time in the world. I never bothered you with declarations of undying love again, and you and Naruto went right back to your old rivalry that constituted as the strongest friendship I'd ever seen.

And two years later, when you slipped a ring on my finger without saying a word and kissed me for the first time, I was so glad I had let you go.

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**Author's Note: **Yeah, that was weirdly written but I don't care. The inspiration came from making brownies, which I'm now thinking I should make more often. And this is a one-shot by the way, I forgot to mention that. But now let's all worship the review button and tell me what you think.


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